Let's save Europe: in favour of a European Foundational Assembly

It is no longer enough to say what needs to be done; we also need to say how and with whom.

My April blog post was focussed on “saving Europe”. I highlighted the almost surreal way in which the EU frontmen keep grinding out their programmes even as the ground is giving way under them. And I made three suggestions: the need for a European foundational assembly, the need to generalise multi-level governance and the need for an innovative initiative in regards to the climate.

In early June, a visit to Brussels convinced me that the idea of a foundational assembly could strike a chord and I was asked to clarify the idea in more detail.

And now we are faced with the reality of Brexit. We need to take the bull by the horns, and urgently. Two recurring themes have become apparent: we need to change the system and we need to give a voice back to the people. This is exactly what a foundational assembly seeks to do. I have attached a concrete outline of what such an assembly would involve. Because it is no longer enough to say what needs to be done; we also need to say how and with whom. That was the visionary pragmatism of Jean Monnet – which we must now put into action.